What to Expect at a Toastmasters Meeting

What to expect at a

Boardwalk Toastmasters Meeting

Boardwalk Toastmasters meetings are very highly structured. These meetings are not ad hoc, but are designed to give as many people as possible a chance to participate. They are classes on communication. Here’s how they proceed.

The Sergeant at Arms opens the meeting. He also recognizes and introduces any guests that are present. He then turns control of the meeting over to the…

Toastmaster of the Evening. The Toastmasters job is to see that the meeting runs both on time and smoothly. He is the Master of Ceremonies. The Toastmaster will have previously called all the members and guests so that the meeting runs professionally. The Toastmaster then introduces the…

Invocation and pledge. The person doing the invocation and pledge will give an appropriate nondenominational invocation. After that, they will ask all present to rise and lead the group in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States. Control is given back to the Toastmaster and he introduces the…

Thought for the Evening. A member will deliver a 2-3 minute speech. The topic will be current events, some aspect of Toastmastering, or even an anecdote, but will serve as "food for thought" for the group. This short speech is timed by the timer. Control is given back to the Toastmaster and he introduces the…

Wordmaster/Jokemaster. The Wordmaster/Jokemaster will select and discuss a word, which will help to build the members' vocabularies. Throughout the evening, the group will use the word as much as possible – for practice. The Wordmaster/Jokemaster will then deliver a joke or humorous story of 2-3 minutes in length. Control is given back to the Toastmaster and he introduces the…

Table Topics Master. The Table Topics Master will call members up, one at a time. They will be given a subject and will speak on that subject for one to two minutes without preparation. These short mini-speeches will be timed. This gives members practice in speaking off-the-cuff. Usually two to four Table Topics are given. Guests are never called on. Only those members that feel experienced enough to do this, are selected. Control is given back to the Toastmaster and he introduces…

The President for the business meeting. The President presides over a short meeting to conduct club business. The meeting is then adjourned for…

The Diner break. This is when dinner is served and members are free to converse with each other. The Dinner break is typically 15 to 20 minutes. At the end the Toastmaster resumes the meeting schedule and one-by-one introduces the…

Prepared Speakers. Here’s where members present prepared speeches from the Toastmasters Manual. Each speaker will have been previously assigned an evaluator that takes careful notes throughout the speaker’s performance. Up to four speeches are given with the Toastmaster moderating between them. After the last speech the Toastmaster introduces the…

General Evaluator. The General Evaluator conducts the evaluation portion of the meeting. One-by-one he introduces the…

Evaluators. The evaluators give an oral evaluation of the speaker to which they had been assigned. The evaluations are two to three minutes and are timed. Speakers also receive written evaluations. All evaluations emphasize the positive. The last Evaluator re-introduces the…

General Evaluator. The General Evaluator comments on the evaluators performance as well as the meeting as a whole. He then calls on the…

Timer. The timer briefly explains the importance of timing and then gives the times for the Thought for the Day, the Table Topics participants, the Prepared Speakers, and the Evaluators. Control is then given back to the General Evaluator and he introduces the…

Grammarian. The Grammarian has been keeping track of the members use of grammar, uh’s, and other verbal miscues. He gives a short presentation on his findings. Control is then given back to the General Evaluator and the re-introduces…

The Presiding Officer. The Presiding Officer now takes brief comments from anyone in the meeting. When complete, the meeting is adjourned for the night.

Boardwalk Toastmasters, Ocean City, New Jersey. Building eloquent speakers from the terrified and the tongue tied.